Wisdom for the Bar Exam

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Congratulations on completing half of the bar exam! By now you have completed the first section of the MBEs and are on your lunch break.

I wanted to write a quick post to wish you all the very best of luck and to give you a few more tips for this afternoon – in case you happen to be reading while you are on your break.

As I wrote this morning, you should expect the MBEs today be hard. This is always the case – every bar round. But, this February 2015, with the addition of Civil Procedure to the MBEs – many examinees are pretty worked up. So by now, you have seen some of these new MBEs (you are NOT supposed to discuss the MBEs, remember, you signed something promising NOT to discuss the MBEs). However, your experience with the questions so far has likely been very similar to everyone else’s experience – it was difficult. And, this afternoon will be difficult as well. But, you are in the same boat as everyone else – it is all in how you navigate it at this point (attitude, sense of accomplishment, refusal to give up, persistence and perseverance, etc.).

Day two is always a long day, and it may feel like you are not passing the exam even if you are actually doing well. How is that? Well, passing raw scores on the MBE have ranged from as low as 129 to as high as the 140s. The passing raw score for the past several years has hovered around 133. A 133 is 66.5% . . . that is a D in regular grading, right? So why should you care about this? Well, if you are getting a D, it may feel like you are getting a D. What I mean is that even if you are scoring well enough to pass on the MBEs, it may not feel like you are passing. You may have scored 70% or 80% on practice MBEs during your bar studies. If so, then you know what scoring 70% or 80% feels like . . . and it feels a lot better than scoring 66.5%. But, on the last several bar exams, 66.5% was all you needed to pass . . . so just keep that in mind – as you go back into this afternoon’s MBEs today. If today has felt a lot harder than your practice MBEs – this is not only normal, it is okay.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, you should know that a significant amount of what it takes to pass the California bar exam is simply keeping your head above water, staying mentally above it all and not letting the test get to you. This is a choice, by the way.

I think one of the biggest challenges that examinees face on the days of the exam is not whether they can remember enough (which is everyone’s biggest fear) but it is instead simply keeping it together, not losing it, staying calm and remembering that it is supposed to be hard, it will be hard, but that you CAN do it.

This is all of your choosing – you can choose to not let this test get to you. You can choose to put yesterdays essays and performance test behind you and completely focus on doing your absolute best on what is still in front of you. You, and only you, can choose to be positive.

And remember that when you are passing the bar exam it doesn’t necessarily feel like you are passing it – it still feels hard (because it is hard), it sill feels very challenging (because it is very challenging), it still might be hard to finish an essay or a performance test tomorrow (and, in fact you may not finish everything and still pass).

So choose to be positive, see everything about your performance in the best light and stay out of your own way, be your own cheerleader and kick butt! Yes, I just said that . . .

I will continue to post and will continue to send out emails. It is not too late to join our Bar Exam Tips List, see my earlier posts to sign up.

All the best to you on today’s second half of the MBEs and on tomorrow – you are half way done!!!

I want to thank you for following this blog, we’ve had over 600,000 views now and I am absolutely humbled and grateful to have your readership.

For those of you who find yourself having to retake the bar exam, do not lose heart. You CAN do it.

I will be writing as much as possible this weekend and in the coming days about: 1) about what to do if you have recently failed the bar exam, 2) how to deal with the addition of Civil Procedure to the MBE exam (as you probably know, the NCBE has added Federal Civil Procedure to the MBE effective on the February 2015 bar exam), and 3) how to pass the bar exam while working a full time job and/or raising a family (yes, it is possible . . . many of my students just did that on the July 2014 bar exam).

These are the major issues as I see them for those of you who are confronting the February 2015 bar exam.

If you are a repeat taker, then you likely can not take much time off of work, or you may not be able to take any time off from work to study. As a result, it will be very important to figure out a study plan that will work around your work and/or family responsibilities. It can be done. And, if you are repeating the bar exam, you may very well have taken Barbri (this isn’t a dig or jab, just the reality – most first time takers take Barbri) and you have a “free retake” . . . so the question for some of you becomes whether you should retake what did not apparently work for you the first time around? The answer to that question isn’t the same for everyone. I will be writing about this soon – hoping to give you some advice as to how to tailor what you might already have at your disposal and ultimately pass this very next bar exam.

Again, thank you for following this blog and stay tuned for more. Here are a few messages from some of our July 2014 bar exam students.

Hi Lisa!!! I passed!! Thank you so much :) with one daughter and a baby on the way you helped me pass the bar and were so positive! I got my money back from that other horrible tutor too. Really appreciate your help. Thank you! Xoxo
Jessica Javaherian

All the best of luck to those who are waiting for bar results for the July 2014 bar exam!

For those of you who are preparing for the February 2015 bar exam, we have released our February 2015 Bar Exam Cram Session Schedule. We will conduct three separate Bar Exam Cram Sessions for the February 2015 Bar Exam. The dates are as follows (click on dates below for more information and to register):

The Two Day Bar Exam Cram Sessions provide a condensed review of all bar tested topics and provide students with a tried and true approach for each essay tested topic. We tell you what you need to know, including what to write, when to write it, how much time to spend on particular issues and provide you with a proven approach to success on the California Bar Exam. You receive a complete set of The Bar Exam Cram Sheets, a study plan for the final ten days leading up to the bar exam and all of the Bar Exam Guru’s predictions and email updates up through the bar exam. See the links above for more detailed course information.

This may be my last post this evening. I noticed that several people were searching this blog for Criminal Procedure. In the past, I have given away several excerpts from our Criminal Procedure Bar Exam Writing Templates. These are still available on this blog, but you would have to search for it. So, I thought I would post links to our 4th, 5th and 8th Amendment Exam Writing Templates. You can download each below:

I mentioned that murder might be on the exam. It has been absent for some time and would seem to be due. Of course, anything is possible. But, since murder has not been tested in a very long time. it would be a good idea to be prepared for it. As a bar taker you undoubtedly have a very good grasp of the rules for Murder. However, it is very important that you are able to make your way through all of the necessary points efficiently and in a manner that the grader will recognize as a passing or above passing answer.

Here is a quick, basic essay approach for murder. (Note that you should use a lot of headings and have a physical structure that evidences your approach – this will give the graders a sense that you actually know what you are talking about and it will make your essay far more appealing to read, it will appear organized and it will make it easier for you to write your answer because you have an approach).

Approach for handling a murder question:

Address: Common Law Murder – Common Law Murder is the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought. Malice aforethought is proven four ways: 1) intent to kill, 2) intent to inflict great bodily injury, 3) depraved heart killings, and 4) felony murder.

(Address the above and then if you have a felony murder issue, prove up the underlying felony (BARRKS – Burglary, Arson, Robbery, Rape, Kidnapping or Sodomy – incidentally, if this area is tested, the examiners may not test one of the above common law inherently dangerous felonies – watch out for a dangerous felony like drug trafficking or another dangerous (but not enumerated as a FMR felony) felony – it forces you to reach a bit and explain that the prosecutor could charge the defendant for felony murder on the basis that it was an inherently dangerous felony, but not a common law enumerated (BARRKS) felony)

Then move onto:

Statutory Degrees of Murder

First Degree Murder: First degree murder is the intentional killing with malice aforethought, premeditation and deliberation. (here do not spend all day on defining or explaining premeditation or deliberation – it either was premeditated and deliberate (lying in wait, planned, thought out etc.) or it wasn’t – address the issue and conclude and move on).

Second Degree Murder (here is the quick way: “all murders that are not first degree are second degree unless mitigated down to some form of manslaughter”).

Manslaughter

There are two types of manslaughter (Voluntary and Involuntary). If you know right away that the facts support a heat of passion killing, then address that first under Manslaughter as: Voluntary Manslaughter. (By the way, anytime there is a fight that results in a death – you should address heat of passion/voluntary manslaughter)

Voluntary Manslaughter: is a killing that would be murder but for the existence of adequate provocation and insufficient cooling time. (there are elements here that you could develop, but, the reality is that if you have a cross over exam and it involves a full murder discussion – from common law murder to manslaughter, then you simply do not have a lot of time. So spend your time focusing on whether what happened would arouse the passions of reasonable person to kill AND whether or not the person did not have time to cool).

Involuntary Manslaughter: A killing is involuntary manslaughter if it was committed with criminal negligence or during the commission of an unlawful act.

There is also the concept of Misdemeanor Manslaughter Rule – it is simply an accidental killing that occurs while the defendant is engaged in a non-dangerous felony or misdemeanor.

Obviously there are defenses like: Intoxication, Insanity (know the four tests as best you can), self defense, defense of others etc. that can all word to either relieve the defendant of liability for common law murder and reduce the crime down to some form of manslaughter. Keep in mind the above is a basic approach. But, sometimes that is really the best thing to have in your head on the day of the exam. You should have a framework or basic approach and then allow yourself the freedom to write your answer based on the particular fact pattern you face.

If you were to get a murder essay, I am thinking it could be in the context of Criminal Procedure (specifically in the context of the 8th Amendment and/or 6th Amendment).

Hopefully you are having something healthy for breakfast and are ready to take on day two of the bar exam. Last night I met with a group of my students who are taking the bar exam in Ontario. A few blog followers joined us as well. I had the opportunity to speak with my students individually about their performance and provide them some encouragement. I am really proud of my students and very happy to be able to meet with them in person after their first day of the bar. Incidentally, if you want to say hello, I will be at the Starbucks near the test center in Ontario during the lunch break today.

I wanted to write a quick post to wish you all the very best of luck and to give you a few tips for today.

First, expect the MBEs to be hard. Today is going to be a long day, and it may feel like you are not passing the exam even if you are doing well. How is that? Well, passing raw scores on the MBE have ranged from as low as 129 to as high as the 140s. The passing raw score for the past several years has hovered around 133. A 133 is 66.5% . . . that is a D in regular grading, right? So why should you care about this? Well, if you are getting a D, it may feel like you are getting a D. What I mean is that even if you are scoring well enough to pass on the MBEs, it may not feel like you are passing. You may have scored 70% or 80% on practice MBEs during your bar studies. If so, then you know what scoring 70% or 80% feels like . . . and it feels a lot better than scoring 66.5%. But, on the last several bar exams, 66.5% was all you needed to pass . . . so just keep that in mind today when you are taking the MBEs. Today may feel a lot harder than you practice MBEs. And that is okay.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, you should know that a significant amount of what it takes to pass the California bar exam is simply keeping your head above water, staying mentally above it all and not letting the test get to you. This is a choice, by the way. The bar exam is meant to be hard. And sometimes, no offense, but sometimes when students tell me the test was “so hard” I feel like saying: “And? . . . ” And I mean no disrespect. The California Bar Exam is hard.

I think one of the biggest challenges that examinees face on the days of the exam is not whether they can remember enough (which is everyone’s biggest fear) but it is instead simply keeping it together, not losing it, staying calm and remembering that it is supposed to be hard, it will be hard, but that you CAN do it.

This is all of your choosing – you can choose to not let this test get to you. You can choose to put yesterdays essays and performance test behind you and completely focus on doing your absolute best on what is still in front of you. You, and only you, can choose to be positive.

And remember that when you are passing the bar exam it doesn’t necessarily feel like you are passing it – it still feels hard (because it is hard), it sill feels very challenging (because it is very challenging), it still might be hard to finish an essay or a performance test (and, in fact you may not finish everything and still pass).

So choose to be positive, see everything about your performance in the best light and stay out of your own way, be your own cheerleader and kick butt! Yes, I just said that . . .

I will continue to post and will continue to send out emails. It is not too late to join our Bar Exam Tips List, see my earlier posts to sign up.

All the best to everyone taking the bar exam tomorrow! Remember to stay positive and focus on doing your best, you can do it!

There is still time to join our July 2014 Bar Exam Tips List:

Each bar round I pick a test location and meet up with my students after day one of the bar exam. During this meeting I go over my revised essay predictions for day three (based upon what was tested on day one’s essay) and provide tips on where to focus your studies for day three of the exam.

I also provide an email version of this that I make available to my enrolled students who are at other test locations. This year, I will also make this available to blog followers. If you would like to receive this information, you can join our list here:

Please be sure to select “yes” or “no” in the drop down menus below and click on the “submit” button at the bottom of the form to be added to our list. Be sure to see more exam tips below this form.

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Ontario Test Location Bar Exam Meetup:

If you would like to attend our Ontario Bar Exam Meet Up, we have a few spaces available. Send an email to me at: barexamguru@yahoo.com and we will get back to you on a first come, first served basis.

Okay, and now a few more exam tips list: Areas that I have not mentioned outside of my class sessions include: the tracing rules (from Remedies – First in, First Out, Lowest Intermediate Balance Rule, Replenishment Theory) and Fifth Amendment Takings (specifically what is known as a “Regulatory Taking”). These two areas have not shown up in some time on the bar exam.

If you were to have the tracing rules tested, you would have an essay with a commingled bank account. If you were to be tested in the area of Regulatory Takings you would have a regulation that took away (limited, decreased, etc.) some use of the land. Past exams have included: an ordinance that provided the public the right to picket on private property and also statutes that limited land development due to a need to protect the habitat of an endangered species. If you were to see something like this, you would need to address the Fifth Amendment Taking issue and explain that while the statute or ordinance does not amount to an “actual physical taking”, the landowner may have a claim under a regulatory taking theory (this still allows for “just compensation”).

A little more on Property . . .

Property – As I mentioned in an earlier post, Property could repeat on the July 2014 bar exam (it was tested on the February 2014 bar exam). So if Property is tested tomorrow or on Thursday, what might likely show up? Well, Landlord/Tenant is one of the most commonly tested areas of Property. So, that is always fair game. However, Easements (it has not been tested in quite some time) is very possible (either alone or in a possible land sale contract setting or even with Landlord/Tenant). And as I mentioned in an earlier post, Covenants and Equitable Servitudes are possible.

If you were to get an essay on Easements and it was in the land sale context – the scenario could go like this: Betty is granted an easement by Grant for a 20-foot road. She receives this easement by express grant, but never records. Betty uses the road and ultimately paves a thirty-foot wide road and begins using it for part residential and part commercial use. Grant sells his land (the servient tenement, the land that is burdened by the easement) to Buyer. The issues become 1) Does Betty have a valid Easement, 2) Does Buyer take the land subject to Betty’s easement etc.The above scenario generates many discussable points.

To determine whether Betty has a valid easement you should follow the Easements approach:

1. Is the easement appurtenant or in gross? (this should be a very short discussion)

2.Is the Easement affirmative or negative easement? (this should be a very short discussion)

3. Creation – how was the easement created (PING)?

4. Scope – what is the scope of the easement and was the scope exceeded – or was the easement overburdened?

5. Was the easement terminated?

With respect to whether Buyer takes the land subject to Betty’s easement will likely require a few discussions: 1) a discussion of notice (actual notice, inquiry notice and constructive notice) and potentially recording act statutes and 2) a potential Warranty Deed discussion where you discuss the present and future covenants (six total).

**Incidentally, I think that an essay involving an Easement is just as likely an essay testing scenario in Property as is a straight Covenants/Equitable Servitudes essay.

Further Predictions for day three:I will continue posting on my blog through the bar exam (but, to get the complete inside view, please sign up for our tips list). After I know what was tested on day one, I will provide my suggestions of areas to focus on for day three’s essays (revised predictions for day three’s essays). However in order for me to do so, since I am not sitting for the test, I need to hear from examinees as to what was actually tested. My students will contact me, but, the more examinees I hear from, the more I will know and the more focused I can be about making suggestions for areas to study on day three.

Help me help you: So, if you have a moment, please feel free to email me on Tuesday during your break with your thoughts on what was tested. The more I know, the more I can offer to you. I can be reached via email at: barexamguru@yahoo.com

Hang in there, I know these last hours can be tough, but, be positive and believe in yourself!

Best of luck to all who are taking the bar exam! Thank you for the following and for your positive feedback via email – it is greatly appreciated, I love hearing from you!